In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-5

Chapter 6

Chapters 7-8

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapter 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 6 Summary

Jimmy and Grandpa Nyles now head to Montana to see the Little Bighorn National Monument. This is the busiest destination they have visited. The parking lot is full of cars and many tourists are exploring the battlefield and visitor’s center. Jimmy and Grandpa Nyles examine a pair of monuments: A relatively new monument to the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors who fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, as well as a much older monument to the white soldiers who died here. The older monument is on Last Stand Hill, but Grandpa Nyles says there wasn’t really a “last stand” for the white soldiers, since most of them died before reaching the hill.

Grandpa Nyles begins telling the story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. In his story, many Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho come to the summons of the Lakota leader Sitting Bull to discuss encroachment from the white settlers. Together they compose an enormous village of around 10,000 people and 15,000 horses. This gathering occurs eight days after the Battle Where the Girl Saved Her Brother, in which Crazy Horse and 500 warriors defeated 1,000 Long Knives and a few hundred Shoshone and Crow, the Long Knives’ Indigenous allies.

Suddenly, the Long Knives attack the village, supported by Shoshone and Crow scouts. The warriors defending the village arm themselves and a furious battle begins. Crazy Horse leads mounted warriors in an attack on a group of soldiers on foot, forcing them to withdraw. After taking many casualties, those soldiers put up barricades in a meadow and prepare to defend it. Crazy Horse’s warriors have the barricade surrounded, so Crazy Horse decides to be patient and let the soldiers stay where they are for now. He leaves a small group of warriors to keep an eye on the barricades while the rest ride off with him to meet a second Long Knife attack.

After driving the truck a few miles to the site of this second attack, Grandpa Nyles resumes his story. George Custer, the white soldiers’ commander, leads an attack on the village, but is held at bay by old men and boys until Crazy Horse and the other warriors arrive to help. At that point, Custer and his men must retreat. The Indigenous warriors purse the soldiers and kill many of them as they flee. By the time they reach Last Stand Hill, only about 30 of the original 230 white soldiers are still alive. The rest die there. Grandpa Nyles tells Jimmy that war and battles are inherently sorrowful: “[N]o matter what kind of uniform you wear or the color of your skin. It’s still sad” (102).

During the fighting, Crazy Horse led a mounted charge against a company of soldiers. He rode far ahead of the other warriors, inspiring them with his bravery. Jimmy asks his grandfather if Crazy Horse was afraid. Grandpa Nyles says he probably was, but just like in his dream, Crazy Horse managed to make it through all the bullets without getting hit.

After all the Long Knives were dead, the Indigenous warriors looted their bodies and mutilated the corpses. Jimmy feels sick to his stomach to hear about this. Grandpa Nyles says they did it because they were angry at the Long Knives for putting women and children in danger. He says he doesn’t agree with the mutilations no matter who does it, “but that’s the way it was then” (108).

Visiting the newer battlefield memorial—the one dedicated to the Indigenous warriors—Jimmy spots an artist’s rendition of Crazy Horse. Grandpa Nyles says that being a warrior means facing up to one’s fears. This sort of courage doesn’t just happen on the battlefield: “You can have courage and face the tough things that happen to you anywhere” (111). Jimmy listens thoughtfully.

When Jimmy asks why the Long Knives attacked the village, Grandpa Nyles says it was to take the land and force the villagers to live on reservations. By 1876, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led the only two groups of Lakota who had not yet surrendered to the whites. Despite the overwhelming numbers of whites and their superior firepower, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull were reluctant to give up being free.

Grandpa Nyles moves toward the end of his story of the battle. In his story, Crazy Horse and the other warriors return to the meadow where the soldiers are still hiding behind their barricades. The warriors are in no rush to attack, waiting for the soldiers to try to break free of the encirclement. Eventually, Crazy Horse receives news that many more Long Knives are on the way to help support their barricaded allies. Instead of risking more warriors in an attack, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull instruct the villagers to begin leaving the area while there is still time. The Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho all safely withdraw, and the barricaded soldiers survive. That concludes the Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota as the Greasy Grass Fight.

Relaxing after their long day, Jimmy and his grandfather agree to come back to this place next year. Grandpa Nyles says that hundreds of thousands of people visit the Little Bighorn National Monument each year, but hardly any of them have as close a connection to the place as Jimmy does. Over the last few days, they have walked in the steps of their Lakota ancestors. The only thing separating them from their ancestors is time. As they depart, Jimmy promises not to forget what happened here.

Chapter 6 Analysis

Chapter 6—by far the longest chapter in the novel—describes Jimmy and Grandpa Nyles’s visit to the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn and touches on many of the story’s overarching themes. Unlike some of the other places they have visited, this place is very popular with tourists. The full parking lot indicates that this is the most important place Jimmy and Nyles have visited so far, but the cars and SUVs also echo the negative associations of the wagon trail marks (See: Background), which symbolized foreign encroachment into lands that once belonged exclusively to the Lakota and other Indigenous tribes. Like the wagons of the 1800s, the modern tourist vehicles scar the natural beauty of the environment.

Using the two main memorials of the battle, the novel comments on the difficulty of representing history in an authentic and unbiased way. As with the earlier plaque to the Fetterman Massacre, the original battle memorial for Little Bighorn ignores the Lakota experience and focuses solely on the white soldiers’ deaths. This one-sided view of the American Frontier Wars (See: Background) is problematic because it celebrates the heroism of the white soldiers, while casting the Indigenous warriors as antagonists and villains. The existence of Last Stand Hill adds to this false narrative by romanticizing the white soldiers as doomed martyrs, even though few of them even made it to that hill during the battle.

However, the existence of the second, newer memorial signifies progress toward a more holistic and multifaceted view of history. Realizing the biases in the original memorial, the battle site now includes an homage to the Indigenous involved in the conflict, signaling an attempt to reconcile with the past and provide a more accurate historical experience for visitors. Nyles reinforces the value of a multifaceted view of history by again reminding Jimmy to have sympathy for the warriors on both sides of the battle. Nyles is a Lakota, but shows empathy and understanding for the white soldiers, just as the memorials—which once celebrated only the white soldiers—now show empathy and understanding toward both sides.

Again, the novel suggests that the best way to break through biased historical barriers is by recognizing The Value of First-Hand Experience. No one now living was there for the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but Jimmy and Nyles grow closer to that first-hand experience by visiting the physical locations of those battles and by paying homage to the oral tradition of the Lakota ancestors who were there. Their agreement to return to the battle site next year suggests that this sort of first-hand experience should be constantly renewed, to keep the memories fresh and to lead toward a deeper knowledge over time.

Grandpa Nyles’s description of the post-battle mutilations enhances the novel’s commentary on the right way to approach history. Even though Jimmy is only 11 years old, Nyles decides not to hold back from telling him about the horrors of the battle. In doing so, he places great faith in his grandson to understand that not all values in the present can apply easily to the past. Nyles is showing Jimmy that they can celebrate their culture without condoning every part of its history. More importantly, Nyles’s openness suggests that facing—rather than obscuring—the most difficult parts of the past is an essential part in accepting one’s own history and turning toward the possibility of a better future.

Standing in front of the artist’s rendition of Crazy Horse, Jimmy makes great strides along The Journey of Personal Growth and Understanding. He has just learned about Crazy Horse’s bravery during the battle, but now sees how he can take that lesson and apply it to his own modern life. Whereas earlier Jimmy frequently asked follow-up questions after his grandfather’s lessons, here he remains silent and contemplative for a moment, revealing a greater understanding of himself and the lessons handed down to him. Jimmy’s promise not to forget what happened also shows an enhanced appreciation of The Importance of Cultural Heritage and Identity. He sees that the battle is now a part of his own personal story, just as it is a part of Nyles’s and all the Lakota who came before.